The short answer
An accent wall in an Ocoee home usually takes one visit and a few rolls of paper. We help you pick a wall that defines the space, smooth the common knockdown texture if needed, and hang the paper level even on tall two-story walls.
Open floor plans are everywhere in Ocoee's newer neighborhoods, and they create a common problem: one long sweep of beige drywall with nothing to anchor the eye. A papered accent wall solves that by giving a living area, a loft or a primary bedroom a clear focal point. We drive about 12 miles northwest from Orlando to install accent walls across ZIP code 34761, and we also hang them in older homes on the city's established streets. Here is how we help Ocoee homeowners choose the spot, handle tall and textured walls, and end up with a feature wall that looks like it was always meant to be there.
Where a feature wall makes sense in open layouts
In a great room that flows into the kitchen and dining area, an accent wall can quietly separate zones. Papering the wall behind a sectional marks the living space; papering behind a dining table gives meals their own setting. Kitchen islands with a wall behind the seating area are another candidate, as long as the paper is scrubbable.
Upstairs, lofts and bonus rooms in two-story houses often double as offices, game rooms or guest spaces. A bold wall there turns a leftover landing into a room with personality. Primary bedrooms with a long, blank headboard wall are probably the single most requested accent wall location we see.
Dealing with knockdown texture
Many of the stucco-exterior homes built in Ocoee over recent decades have interior drywall finished with knockdown or orange-peel texture. Thin papers show that pattern of bumps through the surface, especially under side lighting from tall windows. We have three ways to handle it:
- Skim coat the wall with joint compound and sand it flat, which gives the cleanest result for any paper
- Hang a lining paper first, which bridges light texture and creates a smooth base
- Choose a heavier, textured or embossed wallpaper that hides minor bumps on its own
Working on tall walls safely and level
Accent walls in two-story family rooms or entry foyers can rise well beyond a standard ladder's reach. We bring the right staging so each strip can be handled from top to bottom without stretching, and we use a long laser or plumb line so the first strip is perfectly vertical. On a tall wall, a tiny lean at the top becomes an obvious tilt by the time it reaches the floor.
Long drops are also heavier and stretch more as they absorb paste. We work with a partner on these strips when needed, and we choose papers that are dimensionally stable so the pattern match stays true from ceiling to baseboard.
Choosing a look that suits the house
Newer Ocoee homes often have neutral flooring, white trim and lots of natural light, which gives you room to go bold on one wall. Popular choices include oversized botanicals, painterly abstracts, subtle textured grasscloth-look vinyls, and wood or stone-effect papers for a warmer feel. In older single-story concrete-block homes, smaller-scale prints often sit better on the lower ceilings.
Bring your samples to the wall and look at them at different times of day. Afternoon storms roll through often from June through September, and the light inside can swing from bright and white to gray in minutes. A color that pops at noon may look muddy at dusk.
Ending the paper cleanly at the edges
With an accent wall, the edges are as visible as the pattern. Where the paper meets a painted neighboring wall at an inside corner, we wrap it a hair onto the adjoining surface and cut it with a straightedge so you see a single sharp line, not a gap of bare drywall. On an outside corner, such as the end of a half wall beside a staircase, we may stop the paper just short of the edge and finish with a slim corner guard, which protects it from shoulders and laundry baskets.
Ceilings in newer Ocoee construction are sometimes finished with a popcorn or knockdown texture that meets the wall in a wavy line. Cutting paper into that line takes a steady hand, and in some rooms adding a thin trim piece gives a cleaner border. We point these choices out ahead of time so nothing comes as a surprise on install day.
Booking and prep tips
Clear the area in front of the wall, take down art and shelves, and paint the adjoining walls and trim before we arrive so we can cut paper cleanly against finished edges. Keep the air conditioning running normally, since hot, humid air slows paste cure. During hurricane season, June 1 through November 30, we may shift dates if a storm threatens power. We also serve Winter Garden, Windermere, Eatonville, Maitland and Winter Park.
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